Color (power) Doppler imaging is a valuable adjunct to conventional sonography in differentiating between malignant and benign breast lesions.

Sonographically guided ethanol sclerotherapy is a safe and effective tool for the therapy of benign thyroid cysts.

A BS TRACT: Background: Growing evidence suggests an association between imaging biomarkers of small vessel disease and future cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease (PD). Recently, magnetic resonance imaging-visible perivascular space (PVS) has been considered as an imaging biomarker of small vessel disease, but its effect on cognitive decline in PD is yet to be investigated. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether PVS can independently predict cognitive decline in PD. Methods: A total of 271 PD patients were divided into 106 patients with intact cognition (PD-IC) and 165 patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI). After a mean follow-up of 5.0 AE 2.3 years, 18 PD-IC patients showed cognitive decline to PD-MCI and 34 PD-MCI patients showed cognitive decline to dementia. PVS was rated in the basal ganglia (BG) and centrum semiovale using a 4-point visual scale and then classified as high (score ≥ 2) or low (score < 2) according to severity. Lacunes and white matter hyperintensity severity were also assessed. Independent risk factors for cognitive decline were investigated using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: In all patients, higher BG-PVS and white matter hyperintensity severity, higher levodopa-equivalent dose, hypertension, and lower Mini-Mental State Examination score were independent positive predictors of future cognitive decline. In the PD-IC subgroup, higher BG-PVS severity, hypertension, and more severe depressive symptoms were predictors of cognitive conversion. In the PD-MCI subgroup, higher BG-PVS and white matter hyperintensity severity, and lower Mini-Mental State Examination score were predictors of cognitive decline. Conclusions: BG-PVS may be a useful imaging marker for predicting cognitive decline in PD.

The role of glutamatergic system in the neurobiology of mood disorders draws increasing attention, as disturbance of this system is consistently implicated in mood disorders including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Thus, the glutamate hypothesis of mood disorders is expected to complement and improve the prevailing monoamine hypothesis, and may indicate novel therapeutic targets. Since the contribution of astrocytes is found to be crucial not only in the modulation of the glutamatergic system but also in the maintenance of brain energy metabolism, alterations in the astrocytic function and neuroenergetic environment are suggested as the potential neurobiological underpinnings of mood disorders. In the present review, the evidence of glutamatergic abnormalities in mood disorders based on postmortem and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies is presented, and disrupted energy metabolism involving astrocytic dysfunction is proposed as the underlying mechanism linking altered energy metabolism, perturbations in the glutamatergic system, and pathogenesis of mood disorders.

Reduction of heart rates with beta-blocker premedication improves the image quality of CT coronary angiography, especially in terms of the visualization of the right coronary artery.